Numerous movies, past and present, use the theme first found in cinema in William Hart's March 1916 "Hell's Hinges," about a less-than-noble gunslinger who discovers good and battles the Old West's evil in a small western town. Hart acted as the jaded gunman, considered the most dangerous man in the region, who finds a spiritual awakening and wants to correct the wrongs he has witnessed.
This pattern has proven successful and enlightening in a number of westerns, including the Clint Eastwood 1992 Academy Awards Best Picture, "The Unforgiven." So well-regarded is "Hell's Hinges" that it has been cited as the best silent western by many historians. Some even go as far as to say it's the best western from 1916 until the release of John Ford's 1939 classic, "Stagecoach."
Producer Thomas Ince built an entire town on his studio's Inceville Pacific Palisades grounds for the movie, only to have it entirely burn down in a planned fire filming the exciting conclusion. Scriptwriter Charles Sullivan, who wrote the screenplay for 1915's "The Italian" and 1930's "All Quiet on the Western Front," composed an unique plot with a moral framework never used in cinema before.
In his book about screen play composers, Marc Norman noted that Sullivan, who was the lead writer for the Ince/Triangle Corporation, greatly expanded the industry's normal one-page treatments used to serve as guideposts by directors for ad-libbing and elaboration. Sullivan was the first to submit detailed scripts for his movies. These details included the number and physical appearances of each actor, the type of clothing each wears, the placement of the camera and what is to be seen in the frame, e.g. Wide shot, medium or closeups, and the emotions expressed by each performer in that frame.
Producer Ince, upon reading each screenplay for his studio filmed, stamped on the scripts' front page intended for his directors to read: "Produce exactly as written," an unusual Hollywood directive leaving little room for the director to input his own ideas into the film.
The descriptive script, however, allowed for some stunning photographic scenes in "Hell's Hinges." Cinematographer Joseph August was able to pull off unusual shots, such as placing the camera above the gas lamps illuminating the saloon, showing Hart firing at the supports to create the inferno inside. His silhouetting people in their mad scramble to get away from the town's blazes serves as an example of backlighting to accentuate dramatic events. August's was recognized by the Academy Awards when he was nominated for an Oscar in Best Cinematography for his work in 1939's "Gunga Din."
As for Hart, movie theater owners polled named him the highest money maker after "Hell's Hinges" was released. The film also marks one of the first films for John Gilbert, who became a prominent prototype for romantic actors during the silent era,. He appeared as one of the bad citizens in Hell's Hinges, the name of the town in Ince's western.
This pattern has proven successful and enlightening in a number of westerns, including the Clint Eastwood 1992 Academy Awards Best Picture, "The Unforgiven." So well-regarded is "Hell's Hinges" that it has been cited as the best silent western by many historians. Some even go as far as to say it's the best western from 1916 until the release of John Ford's 1939 classic, "Stagecoach."
Producer Thomas Ince built an entire town on his studio's Inceville Pacific Palisades grounds for the movie, only to have it entirely burn down in a planned fire filming the exciting conclusion. Scriptwriter Charles Sullivan, who wrote the screenplay for 1915's "The Italian" and 1930's "All Quiet on the Western Front," composed an unique plot with a moral framework never used in cinema before.
In his book about screen play composers, Marc Norman noted that Sullivan, who was the lead writer for the Ince/Triangle Corporation, greatly expanded the industry's normal one-page treatments used to serve as guideposts by directors for ad-libbing and elaboration. Sullivan was the first to submit detailed scripts for his movies. These details included the number and physical appearances of each actor, the type of clothing each wears, the placement of the camera and what is to be seen in the frame, e.g. Wide shot, medium or closeups, and the emotions expressed by each performer in that frame.
Producer Ince, upon reading each screenplay for his studio filmed, stamped on the scripts' front page intended for his directors to read: "Produce exactly as written," an unusual Hollywood directive leaving little room for the director to input his own ideas into the film.
The descriptive script, however, allowed for some stunning photographic scenes in "Hell's Hinges." Cinematographer Joseph August was able to pull off unusual shots, such as placing the camera above the gas lamps illuminating the saloon, showing Hart firing at the supports to create the inferno inside. His silhouetting people in their mad scramble to get away from the town's blazes serves as an example of backlighting to accentuate dramatic events. August's was recognized by the Academy Awards when he was nominated for an Oscar in Best Cinematography for his work in 1939's "Gunga Din."
As for Hart, movie theater owners polled named him the highest money maker after "Hell's Hinges" was released. The film also marks one of the first films for John Gilbert, who became a prominent prototype for romantic actors during the silent era,. He appeared as one of the bad citizens in Hell's Hinges, the name of the town in Ince's western.